The Divinely Sinful Saints by ITOTKO
What's It About?
This book is a springboard for introspection or discussion. Each paragraph is enough to occupy a Bible study group for hours.Scholars have been interpreting the words of the Bible for millennia. The oldest known manuscripts of the Bible date to the 4th Century C.E., but the oldest sources of its contents are thousands of years older. The Book of Genesis, for example, contains traces of ancient creation stories.
Today’s Protestant Bible has 66 books. The Catholic Bible contains 73, and other versions even more. Until the invention of the printing press, copies of the Bible were written out by hand. Mistakes were made, or translations changed.
So today, are we to read the Bible literally? Or regard its words as a fluid composite of historical documents, parables and secrets hiding in plain sight?
The Divinely Sinful Saints (Outskirts Press) takes a top-down method of finding meaning in the Bible, and presents insights the author, Con Tron Bui gained studying religion, metaphysics and spirituality for more than 40 years.
For Christians of All Kinds
“I just had an urge to write to share what I know to help people who would like to know more about spirituality, truth, and life,” Bui says. “Christ’s teaching is very wise, intelligent, and compassionate. It is timeless and priceless if one really understands it and applies it in daily life.”
Beginning at the beginning, Bui considers whether the Garden of Eden was ever an actual place on Earth or a fictional place. Was an actual, literal rib taken out of Adam to create Eve? Where was God before he created the heaven and the earth? How do we distinguish between what is flesh and what is spirit?
In his introduction, Bui writes, “This book is not just for open-minded ‘veteran’ Christians. It is mainly for those who know little about Christianity or are unfamiliar with the Bible’s scriptures.” It also “does not concern itself with any particular denomination, faith or belief.”
Bui uses the King James Version of the Bible “because it is relatively independent of doctrine and denominations” and “the most practical framework.”
Expanded Edition of Religious Study
The Divinely Sinful Saints is an expanded and revised edition of Bui’s 2021 book, Truthful Misconceptions, and for the new version the author uses a pen name, ITOTKO. It’s the acronym for “it takes one to know one,” but it also has another meaning for Bui: “I means I. TOT means a little child. And KO means knock out, conquer, overcome, or subdue.”
He comments: “[H]istory, doctrines, beliefs, cultures, etc., do not affect the way those scripture writers wrote. They could give out the mysteries and, at the same time, hide the mysteries from people they did not want to know them. They did this through symbols. And they were the ones who defined the meaning of symbols they used, such as: ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up . . . But he spake of the temple of his body’ (John 2:19, 21).”
Perfect for Introspection or Discussion
Born in Vietnam, he says, “I am not a Christian, as the word is commonly used and understood. I am not a Buddhist either, as the word is commonly used and understood.”
His interest in the Bible began while he was attending Ohio University and a friend gave him a copy of the New Testament. “I read it and many scriptures in it sounded good to me, such as 1 Tim. 6:7, ‘For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.’ ”
Like the Bible, this book is a springboard for introspection or discussion. Each paragraph in these 386 pages is enough to occupy a Bible study group for hours.
The Divinely Sinful Saints by ITOTKO is a product of over 40 years of study and research in metaphysics, religions, and spirituality. The book is an expanded and revised version of Truthful Misconceptions by the same author but with a different name. In these books, he shares his knowledge and insight with those who would like to gain a deeper spiritual understanding of the scriptures in the Bible.
